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BIOGEAPHY 

OF 

GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN, 

BY A BOSTONIAN. 

1857. 



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GEN. JOSEPH WAEREN, 



EMBRACING THE 



PROMINENT EVENTS OF HIS LIFE, 

AND HI8 

BOSTON ORATIONS OF 1772 AND 1775; 

TOGETHER 

WITH THE CELEBRATED EULOGY PRONOUNCED BY 
PEREZ MORTON, M. M., 

m THE RE-ISTERIMT OF THE REMAIN BY THE MASOMC ORDER, 
At King's Chapel, in 1776. 



BY A BOSTONIAN. 



BOSTON: 

SHEPARD, CLARK & BROWN, 
110 Washington Street. 

1857. 

\ 



E%3 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by 

Shepard, Clark & Brown, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 






INDEX 



Chapter I 9 

Chapter II 35 

Chapter m 65 



PREFACE. 



The plaudits of an admiring country have been be- 
stowed with lavish generosity upon the name of Joseph 
Warren. "With the single exception of the illustrious 
Washington, no other military hero of the revolution 
has so often been the theme of the orator, the subject 
of appreciative eulogy, or the star towards which a 
grateful posterity has been proud to point as an emblem 
of American courage and patriotism. In the review 
which we have attempted of his eminent services, both 
in the deliberations of the public councils and in the 
din of the battle-field, it has been the aim of the writer 
to place this admirable character before the public in a 
light calculated to display his merits as they should be 
known to his countrymen. The evidence of cotempo- 
rary writers has been adduced, as well as those of a 
later period who by their research in historical subjects 
have been regarded as worthy of credit in matters per- 
taining to the American revolution ; and every known 
authority calculated to throw any light upon the short 



Vlll PREFACE. 

but brilliant career of General Warren, has been con- 
sulted. In a work admitting of almost infinite exten- 
sion, it is difficult to draw the line between " burying 
the subject in a book," and a too brief consideration of 
the stirring events of which it treats. The happy me- 
dium, it is hoped, has not been widely departed from 
in this instance. 

June, 1857. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

OF 

GENERAL JOSEPH WARREE 



CHAPTER I. 

The Birth and Childhood of Joseph "Warren. — His College Life. — 
Anecdote. — Graduates. — Commences the Study and Practice of 
Medicine. — His Political Opinions. — The Secret Club. — Friendship 
with Samuel Adams. — On the Committee to demand the "With- 
drawal of the Troops in 1770. — Elected to the State Legislature; 
— His First Oration on the Boston Massacre. — His Eminent 
Services in the Popular Cause. 

It has been observed, that biography is a subject of 
such thrilling interest, that the memory of most men in 
every age and nation, who have rendered themselves 
eminent, either in the cause of virtue or vice, glory or 
infamy, has been handed down in the pages of history. 
Among the unlettered nations of the earth we find the 
exploits of their heroes and sages recorded with hiero- 
glyphics in wild simplicity, or find their names inter- 
woven in the wild and more romantic tales of myste- 
rious tradition. When graced with truth and impar- 
tiality, the subject is not only interesting, but calculated 



10 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

to enrich our minds, by producing a desire to emulate 
the examples of the great and good, and by pointing 
out to us the paths of error, that may lead us to dis- 
grace and ruin. The interest felt in the history of an 
individual depends much upon the manner in which the 
biographer performs his important duty, but more upon 
the sphere of action, and the magnitude and glory of 
the cause in -which the individual has been engaged. 
The cause in which Joseph Warren, the subject of this 
sketch, was engaged, is one deeply interesting to every 
philanthropist, and more especially to every American. 
It was the cause of humanity and equal rights, 
opposed to cruelty and oppression ; the cause of Ameri- 
can independence, opposed to British tyranny. The 
part he acted was included in the flower of manhood as 
a statesman and soldier. As the statesman and patri- 
otic orator, he acted a conspicuous part in his native 
State ; and, as the soldier, he claims our attention, not 
only for the generous courage and chivalrous bearing 
he evinced on the battle field, but from the fact that he 
was the first of the band of heroes who fell in the high 
places of the field, in defence of American liberty. 

Of the childhood of Joseph Warren, but little is 
known. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 
1740, and doubtless received the rudiments of his 
education at the Grammar School of Master Lovell, a 
seminary where many of the patriots of the revolution 
were prepared for the severer studies of Harvard. In 
1755 he entered college, where he sustained the char- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 11 

acter of a youth of talent, fine manners, of a generous 
disposition, and a noble, independent deportment, united 
to great personal courage and perseverance. Though 
but fifteen years of age when he commenced his studies 
at the University, he graduated with honor in 1759, 
and received his degree of Master of Arts in 1762. 

Among the few anecdotes transmitted of his college 
career, the following will illustrate his fearlessness and 
determination at that age, when character can hardly 
be said to be formed. Several students of Warren's 
class shut themselves into a room to arrange some col- 
lege affairs, in a way which they knew would be con- 
trary to his wishes, and barred the door so effectually 
that he could not, without great violence, force it. But 
he did not give over the attempt of getting among 
them ; for, perceiving that the window of the room in 
which they were assembled was open, and near a spout 
which extended from the roof of the building to the 
ground, he went to the top of the house, slid down the 
eaves, seized the spout, and when he had descended 
as far as the window, threw himself into the chamber 
among them. At that instant the spout, which was 
decayed and very weak, gave way, and fell to the 
ground. He looked at it without emotion, said it had 
served his purpose, and began to take part in the 
business. 

On leaving college, Mr. Warren turned his attention 
to the study of medicine. He was soon qualified for 
practice, and in the year 1764, when the small-pox 



T2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

spread through Boston, and vast numbers were inocu- 
lated, he was among the physicians who were most 
eminent in the profession. Had he confined his views 
to professional business, he might have enjoyed the 
affluence of wealth, with a high reputation. He cer- 
tainly was happy in the affection and friendship of a 
very numerous part of the town, who had the highest 
opinion- of his humanity and skill. His fine address, as 
well as his taste for philosophy and belles-lettres, gained 
him the esteem and regard of the learned ; while his 
frank, open disposition, and obliging attention to per- 
sons under various circumstances of distress, caused 
him to be greatly beloved by those who tread the hum- 
ble walks of life. But his mind was too ardent and 
active to be confined to the duties of a profession, and 
he was a stranger to the passion of avarice. He soon 
had an opportunity to show his talents as a fine writer, 
as well as his burning eloquence and patriotic zeal. 
These were manifested on many occasions, from the 
year of the Stamp Act to the opening of hostilities, 
which separated the Colonies from Great Britain. He 
stood among the foremost of that class of bold poli- 
ticians, as they were then distinguished from the less 
zealous advocates of colonial rights, known as moderate 
ivhigs. While some continued to maintain sophistical 
distinctions between internal and external taxation, and 
advocated sending petition after petition to the foot of 
the throne ; while the generality of citizens dreaded a 
war between the yet feeble Colonies and the omnipotent 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 13 

power of England, — he rose superior to these fears, 
and openly despised the suppliant tone of the Colonies 
to the mother country. He was uniform in his opi- 
nion that every kind of taxation was complete tyranny ; 
and it was a common expression with him, " that we 
could fight our own battles if England sent her armies 
over the Atlantic." He was persuaded that Great 
Britain would never send large armies, a mistake which 
he did not live to correct ; " but let them make ever 
so great exertions to conquer America," he once re- 
marked, " they can only destroy our sea-ports, — they 
will never be able to penetrate into the country ; and 
we ought to make any sacrifice, rather than submit to 
arbitrary and oppressive measures, and be so mean and 
pusillanimous as to tremble at the rods which will con- 
tinually be shaken over our heads." 

From the year 1768 he was a principal member, with 
Samuel Adams and others, of the secret meeting or 
caucus in Boston, which had a potent influence on the 
political movements of the day. Many of the members 
of this club filled public offices ; but the meetings for 
some years were private, and but few knew from whence 
the public measures of resistance to British tyranny 
originated. In 1772, they agreed to increase their num- 
ber, to meet in a large room, and invite some of the 
principal mechanics to join them. A portion of the 
journals of this club are yet in good } reservation ; and 
from them we may glean the secret but powerful mea- 
sures which were adopted, — such as electing true sons 



14 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

of liberty, and known adherents to the popular cause, 
to the provincial legislature, and to other offices of 
public trust. 

The club thus fully organized met in a house near 
the " North Battery," and " more than sixty persons " 
were present at the first meeting. Their regulations 
were drawn up by Dr. Warren, and another member 
whose name does not appear ; and it seems that " no 
important measures were taken without first consulting 
him and his particular friends." 

It was during these meetings, which were frequent 
and important, that the intimacy and firm friendship 
sprung up between Dr. Warren and the patriarch 
Samuel Adams. Though the latter was elder by 
eighteen years, and, as the venerable leader of the op- 
position, was looked to by the other patriots as the 
guide and director in the stormy crisis of the revolu- 
tion, yet the generous, impulsive ardor of the one was 
so completely interwoven with the clear sagacity, pru- 
dence, and calm deliberation of the other, that they 
seemed to lean upon each other with the affection of 
brothers. Together they moved and acted ; and when 
the news of his death reached his friend, who was then 
in Congress at Philadelphia, his grief was too deep and 
profound for utterance. On the re-interment of his 
remains on the following year, Perez Morton, the orator 
of the day, thus feelingly alludes to their friendship : 
" An Adams can witness with how much zeal he loved 
when he had formed the sacred connection of a friend: 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 15 

their kindred souls were so closely twined, that both 
felt one joy, one affliction." And a few months later, 
in his oration at Philadelphia, Samuel Adams con- 
cluded : " If I have a wish dearer to my soul than that 
my ashes may be mingled with those of a Warren and 
Montgomery, it is that these American States may 
never cease to be free and independent" 

In the patriotic assembly we have alluded to, the 
plans of defence were matured. After the destruction 
of the tea it was no longer kept a secret ; but the place 
of meeting was changed in the spring of 1775 to the 
Green Dragon. From 1768 to 1775, few, if any, among 
the patriots equalled Dr. Warren in the energy of his 
purposes, the zeal with which he supported the cause of 
his country, or his utter contempt of danger. 

From the time of the " Boston Massacre," he took a 
leading part in the efforts made by the town to effect 
the removal of the troops, and was one of the commit- 
tee of seven, of which Samuel Adams was chairman, 
when the celebrated scene occurred between the latter 
and Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson. The town ap- 
pointed a committee of three, consisting of James 
Boudoin, Joseph Warren, and Samuel Pemberton, to 
draw up a particular account of the tragedy, " that a 
full and just representation may be made thereof." 
The report was published in pamphlet form, and for- 
warded to England by a vessel chartered by the town 
for that special purpose. It bears evidence of the style 
and vigorous sentiments of Dr. Warren, and there can 



16 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

be but little doubt that he had the principal hand in 
preparing it. 

Dr. Warren took his seat in the State Legislature in 
May, 1770, as one of the Boston members; and we find 
his name among those appointed to draft numerous im- 
portant State papers and messages, and to assist in the 
controversy then waging between the House and Lt.- 
Governor Hutchinson, on the removal of the Legisla- 
ture to Cambridge. His eloquent voice was doubtless 
employed in debate on this subject, and his exertions 
must have contributed largely to the support of the 
popular cause. He was re-elected in 1773, and equally 
distinguished himself during that momentous and ex- 
citing session. 

In March, 1772, he was applied to by a committee 
of the town of Boston to deliver an oration in the Old 
South Church, commemorative of the massacre of 
March, 1770. He was selected from the celebrity he 
had already acquired as a popular speaker, and his 
fearlessness in all emergencies requiring personal cour- 
age. It was not then known how an oration such as 
was expected from Dr. Warren would be received by 
the authorities. The fear of man never entered into 
his soul, and he would allow no possibility of danger to 
influence his determination to avow his sentiments freely 
to his townsmen. But no opposition was manifested by 
the Tories, and this (the second oration delivered on 
this subject) was listened to by a vast concourse of 
people. This production is a striking illustration of 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 17 

the martial eloquence of his language, the purity of 
his style, and the power with which he could delineate 
his subject ; but with the mere language of his oration 
we lose the fervid and irresistible force of action and 
gesture, the manly beauty of the speaker, the impas- 
sioned intonations of voice, which belonged to Joseph 
Warren equally with any other orator of his day, and 
which never failed to animate his audience into an en- 
thusiasm as warm as his own. 

In this address he does not solely display a facility of 
language and brilliant oratory ; he evinces throughout 
an intimate knowledge of the rights of the colonists, 
of the privileges they had inherited from their fore- 
fathers who had first settled in the country, and of the 
insidious invasions of them, which, since the Stamp Act, 
had been progressively made by Great Britain. His 
views of the true connection between England and her 
; colonies, as shown by the charter, are comprehensively 
i expressed, and explained with a clearness showing him 
to have fully understood his subject, and to have been 
a deep student of the great questions of that epoch. 
Like George Mason, of Virginia, though not bred to the 
law, he was completely master of the doctrines of law, 
and his mind had been stored from the best political 
writers of hig time. 



18 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, 

March 5, 1772. 
BY JOSEPH WARREN. 

" Quis talia fando, 
Myrmidonum, Dolopumve, aut duri miles Ulyssei, 
Temperet a lacrymis." Virgil. 

When we turn over the historic page, and trace the 
rise and fall of states and empires, the mighty revolu- 
tions which have so often varied the face of the world 
strike our minds with solemn surprise, and we are na- 
turally led to endeavor to search out the causes of such 
astonishing changes. 

That man is formed for social life is an observation, 
which, upon our first inquiry, presents itself imme- 
diately to our view ; and our reason approves that wise 
and generous principle which actuated the first found- 
ers of civil government, — an institution which hath its 
origin in the weakness of individuals, and hath for its 
end the strength and security of all ; and so long as 
the means of effecting this important end are thoroughly 
known, and religiously attended to, government is one 
of the richest blessings to mankind, and ought to be 
held in the highest veneration. 

In young and new-formed communities, the grand 
design of this institution is most generally understood, 
and most strictly regarded. The motives which urged 



GEN. JOSEPH AVARREN. 19 

to the social compact cannot be at once forgotten ; and 
that equality which is remembered to have subsisted so 
lately among them prevents those who are clothed with 
authority from attempting to invade the freedom of 
their brethren,— or if such an attempt is made, it pre- 
vents the community from suffering the offender to go 
unpunished. Every member feels it to be his interest, 
and knows it to be his duty, to preserve inviolate the 
constitution on which the public safety depends,* and 
he is equally ready to assist the magistrate in the exe- 
cution of the laws, and the subject in defence of his 
right ; and so long as this noble attachment to a consti- 
tution, founded on free and benevolent principles, ex- 
ists in full vigor in any State, that State must be 
flourishing and happy. 

It was this noble attachment to a free constitution 
which raised ancient Rome from the smallest beginnings 
to that bright summit of happiness and glory to which 
she arrived ; and it was the loss of this which plunged 
her from that summit into the black gulf of infamy 
and slavery. It was this attachment which inspired her 
senators with wisdom ; it was this which glowed in the 
breast of her heroes ; it was this which guarded her 
liberties and extended her dominions, gave peace at 
home, and commanded respect abroad : and, when this 
decayed, her magistrates lost their reverence for jus- 
tice and the laws, and degenerated into tyrants and 

* Omnes ordines ad conservamdam rempublicam, mente, voluntatc, 
studio, virtute, voce, consentiunt. — Cicero. 



20 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

oppressors ; her senators, forgetful of their dignity, 
and seduced by base corruption, betrayed their country ; 
her soldiers, regardless of their relation to the com- 
munity, and urged only by the hopes of plunder and 
rapine, unfeelingly committed the most flagrant enor- 
mities ; and, hired to the trade of death, with relentless 
fury they perpetrated the most cruel murders, whereby 
the streets of imperial Rome were drenched with her 
noblest blood. Thus this empress of the world lost her 
dominions abroad; and her inhabitants, dissolute in 
their manners, at length became contented slaves ; and 
she stands to this day the scorn and derision of nations, 
and a monument of this eternal truth, that public hap- 
piness depends on a virtuous and unshaken attachment 
to a free constitution. 

It was this attachment to a constitution, founded on 
free and benevolent principles, which inspired the first 
settlers of this country. They saw with grief the daring 
outrages committed on the free constitution of their 
native land, — they knew that nothing but a civil war 
could at that time restore its pristine purity. So hard 
was it to resolve to imbrue their hands in the blood of 
their brethren, that they chose rather to quit their fair 
possessions, and seek another habitation in a distant 
clime. When they came to this new world, which they 
fairly purchased of the Indian natives, the only right- 
ful proprietors, they cultivated the then barren soil by 
their incessant labor, and defended their dear-bought 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 21 

possessions with the fortitude of the Christian, and the 
bravery of the hero. 

After various struggles, which, during the tyrannic 
reign of the house of Stuart, were constantly kept up 
between right and wrong, between liberty and slavery, 
the connection between Great Britain and this colony 
was settled, in the reign of King William and Queen 
Mary, by a compact, the conditions of which were ex- 
pressed in a charter, by which all the liberties and im- 
munities of British subjects were confined to this prov- 
ince, as fully and as absolutely as they possibly could 
be by any human instrument which can be devised. 
And it is undeniably true, that the greatest and most 
important right of a British subject is, that he shall be 
governed by no laws but those to which he, either in per- 
son or by his representative, hath given his consent ; and 
this, I will venture to assert, is the grand basis of Bri- 
tish freedom ; it is interwoven with the constitution, 
and whenever this is lost the constitution must be de- 
stroyed. 

The British Constitution (of which ours is a copy) 
is a happy compound of the three forms (under some 
of which all governments may be ranged), viz., mon- 
archy, aristocracy, and democracy ; of these three the 
British Legislature is composed, and without the con- 
sent of each branch, nothing can carry with it the force 
of a law ; but when a law is to be passed for raising a 
tax, that law can originate only in the democratic 
branch, which is the House of Commons in Britain, and 



22 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

the House of Representatives here. The reason is 
obvious, — they and their constituents are to pay much 
the largest part of it. But as the aristocratic branch, 
which in Britain is the House of Lords, and in this 
province the Council, are also to pay some part, their 
consent is necessary; and as the monarchic branch, 
which in Britain is the king, and with us either the 
king in person, or fre governor whom he shall be pleased 
to appoint to act in his stead, is supposed to have a 
just sense of his own interest, which is that of all the 
subjects in general, his consent is also necessary. And 
when the consent of these three branches is obtained, 
the taxation is most certainly legal. 

Let us now allow ourselves a few moments to exa- 
mine the late acts of the British Parliament for taxing 
America ; let us with candor judge whether they are 
constitutionally binding upon us. If they are, in the 
name of justice let us submit to them, without one 
murmuring word. 

First, I would ask whether the members of the Bri- 
tish House of Commons are the democracy of this 
province. If they are, they are either the people of 
this province, or are elected by the people of this 
province to represent them, and have therefore a con- 
stitutional right to originate a bill for taxing them. It 
is most certain they are neither ; and, therefore, 
nothing done by them can be said to be done by the 
democratic branch of our constitution. I would next 
ask, whether the lords, who compose the aristocratic 



CKEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 23 

branch of the legislature, are peers of America. I 
never heard it was (even in those extraordinary times) 
so much as pretended; and, if they are not, certainly no 
act of theirs can be said to be the act of the aristocratic 
branch of our constitution. The power of the mon- 
archic branch, we with pleasure acknowledge, resides 
in the king, who may act either in person or by his re- 
presentative ; and I freely confess that I can see no 
reason why a proclamation for raising in America, 
issued by the king's sole authority, would not be equally 
consistent with our own constitution, and therefore 
equally binding upon us with the late acts of the Bri- 
tish Parliament for taxing us ; for it is plain, that if 
there is any validity in those acts, it must arise alto- 
gether from the monarchical branch of the Legislature. 
And I further think that it would be at least as equit- 
able ; for I do not conceive it to be of the least import- 
ance to us by whom our property is taken away, so long 
as it is taken without our consent. And I am very much 
at a loss to know by what figure of rhetoric the inhab- 
itants of this province can be called free subjects, when 
they are obliged to obey implicitly such laws as are 
made for them by men three thousand miles off, whom 
they know not, and whom they never empowered to act 
for them ; or how they can be said to have property, 
when a body of men, over whom they have not the 
least control, and who are not in any way accountable 
to them, shall oblige them to deliver up any part, or 
the whole, of their substance, without even asking their 



2-A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OT • 

consent. And yet whoever pretends that the late acts 
of the British Parliament for taxing America ought to 
be deemed binding upon us, must admit at once that we 
are absolute slaves, and have no property of our own ; 
or else that we may be freemen, and at the same time 
under a necessity of obeying the arbitrary commands 
of those over whom we have no control or influence; and 
that we may have property of our own, which is en- 
tirely at the disposal of another. Such gross absurdi- 
ties I believe will not be relished in this enlightened 
age ; and it can be no matter of wonder that the people 
quickly perceived, and seriously complained of, the in- 
roads which these acts must unavoidably make upon 
their liberty, and of the hazard to which their whole 
property is by them exposed ; for if they may be taxed 
without their consent, even in the smallest trifle, they 
may also, without their consent, be deprived of every 
thing they possess, although ever so valuable, ever so 
dear. Certainly it never entered the hearts of our 
ancestors, that, after so many dangers in this then deso- 
late wilderness, their hard-earned property should be 
at the disposal of the British Parliament. And as it 
was soon found that this taxation could not be supported 
by reason and argument, it seemed necessary that one 
act of oppression should be enforced by another ; and 
therefore, contrary to our just rights as possessing, or 
at least having a just title to possess, all the liberties 
and immunities of British subjects, a standing army 
was established among us in time of peace ; and evi- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 25 

dently for the purpose of effecting that which it was 
one principle design of the founders of the constitution 
to prevent (when they declared a standing army in a 
time of peace to be against law'), namely, for the en- 
forcement of obedience to acts which, upon fair exam- 
ination, appeared to be unjust and unconstitutional. 

The ruinous consequences of standing armies to free 
communities may be seen in the histories of Syracuse, 
Rome, and many other once flourishing states, some of 
which have now scarce a name ! Their baneful in- 
fluence is most suddenly felt when they are placed in 
populous cities ; for by a corruption of morals the pub- 
lic happiness is immediately affected. And that this is 
one of the effects of quartering troops in a populous 
city is a truth to which many a mourning parent, 
and many a lost, despairing child in this metropolis, 
must bear a very melancholy testimony. Soldiers are 
also taught to consider arms as the only arbiters by 
which every dispute is to be decided between contend- 
ing States, — they are instructed implicitly to obey their 
commanders, without inquiring into the justice of the 
cause they are engaged to support ; hence it is that 
they are ever to be dreaded as the ready engines of 
tyranny and oppression. And it is, too, observable that 
they are prone to introduce the same mode of decision 
in the disputes of individuals, and from thence have 
often arisen great animosities between them and the 
inhabitants, who, whilst in a naked, defenceless state, 
are frequently insulted and abused by an armed soldiery. 



26 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

And this will be more especially the case, when the 
troops are informed that the intention of their being 
stationed in any city is to overawe the inhabitants. 
That this was the avowed design of stationing an armed 
force in this town, is sufficiently known ; and we, my 
fellow- citizens, have seen, ive have felt, the tragical 
effects! The fatal 6th of March, 1770, can never be 
forgotten ; the horrors of that dreadful night are but 
too deeply impressed on our hearts ; language is too 
feeble to paint the emotion of our souls, when our streets 
were stained with the blood of our brethren, — when 
our ears were wounded by the groans of the dying, and 
our eyes were tormented with the sight of the mangled 
bodies of the dead. When our alarmed imagination 
presented to our view our houses wrapt in flames, — our 
children subjected to the barbarous caprice of the rag- 
ing soldiery, — our beauteous virgins exposed to all the 
insolence of unbridled passion, — our virtuous wives, 
endeared to us by every tender tie, falling a sacrifice 
to worse than brutal violence, and perhaps, like the 
famed Lucretia, distracted with anguish and despair, 
ending their wretched lives by their own fair hands ; 
when we beheld the authors of our distress parading 
in our streets, or drawn up in a regular battalia, as 
though in a hostile city ; — our hearts beat to arms ; we 
snatched our weapons, almost resolved, by one decisive 
stroke, to avenge the death of our slaughtered brethren, 
and to secure from future danger all that we held most 
dear. But propitious Heaven forbade the bloody car- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 27 

nage, and saved the threatened victims of our too keen 
resentment ; notbj their discipline, not by their regular 
array, — no, it was royal George's livery that proved 
their shield, it was that which turned the pointed en- 
gines of destruction from their breasts.* The thoughts 
of vengeance were soon buried in our inbred affection 
to Great Britain, and calm reason dictated a method 
of removing the trcops more mild than an immediate 
recourse to the sword. With united eiforts you urged 
the immediate departure of the troops from the town, — 
you urged it with a resolution which ensured success ; 
you obtained your wishes, and the removal of the troops 
was effected, without one drop of their blood being shed 
by the inhabitants. 

The immediate actors in the tragedy of that night 
were surrendered to justice. It is not mine to say 
how far they were guilty. They have been tried by 
the country, and acquitted of murder ! and they 
are not to be again arraigned at an earthly bar : but 
surely the men who have promiscuously scattered death 
amidst the innocent inhabitants of a populous city, 
ought to see well to it that they be prepared to stand 
at the bar of an omniscient judge ! and all who con- 

* I have the strongest reason to believe that I have mentioned the 
only circumstance which saved the troops from destruction. It was 
then and now is, the opinion of those who were best acquainted with 
the state of affairs at that time, that, had thrice that number of 
troops belonging to any power at open war with us been in this 
town, in the same exposed conditon, scarce a man would have lived 
to have seen the morning light. 



28 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

trived or encouraged the stationing troops in this place 
have reasons of eternal importance to reflect, with deep 
contrition, on their base designs, and humbly to repent 
of their impious machinations. 

The infatuation which hath seemed, for a number of 
years, to prevail in the British councils, with regard to 
us, is truly astonishing. What can be proposed by the 
repeated attacks made upon our freedom, I really can- 
not surmise ; even leaving justice and humanity out of 
question. I do not know one single advantage which 
can arise to the British nation, from our being enslaved. 
I know not of any gains which can be wrung from 
us by oppression, which they may not obtain from us 
by our own consent, in the smooth channel of com- 
merce. We wish the wealth and prosperity of Britain ; 
we contribute largely to both. Doth what we contribute 
lose all its value, because it is done voluntarily ? The 
amazing increase of riches to Britain, the great rise of 
the value of her lands, the flourishing state of her 
navy, are striking proofs of the advantages derived to 
her from her commerce with the colonies ; and it is our 
earnest desire that she may still continue to enjoy the 
same emoluments, until her streets are paved with 
American gold ; only let us have the pleasure of 
calling it our own, whilst it is in our own hands. But 
this, it seems, is too great a favor, — we are to be gov- 
erned by the absolute command of others, our property 
is to be taken away without our consent. If we com- 
plain, our complaints are treated with contempt ; if we 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 29 

assert our rights, that assertion is deemed insolence ; if 
we humbly offer to submit the matter to the impartial 
decision of reason, the sword is judged the most pro- 
per argument to silence our murmurs ! But this cannot 
long be the case. Surely the British nation will not 
suffer the reputation of their justice and their honor 
to be thus sported away by a capricious ministry ; no, 
they will in a short time open their eyes to their true 
interest. They nourish in their own breasts a noble 
love of liberty ; they hold her dear, and they know 
that all who have once possessed her charms had rather 
die than suffer her to be torn from their embraces; 
they are also sensible that Britain is so deeply inter- 
ested in the prosperity of the colonies, that she must 
eventually feel every wound given to their freedom. 
They cannot be ignorant that more dependence be may 
placed on the affections of a brother than on the forced 
service of a slave ; they must approve your efforts for 
the preservation of your rights ; from a sympathy of 
soul they must pray for your success : and I doubt not 
but they will, e'er long, exert themselves effectually to 
redress your grievances. Even in the dissolute reign 
of King Charles II. when the House of Commons 
impeached the Earl of Clarendon of high treason, the 
first article on which they founded their accusation was 
that u he had designed a standing army to be raised, and 
to govern the kingdom thereby " And the eighth article 
was that " he had introduced an arbitrary government 
into his majesty's plantation" A terrifying exam- 



30 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

pie to those who are now forging chains for this 
country. 

You have, my friends and countrymen, frustrated 
the designs of your enemies, by your unanimity and 
fortitude : it was your union and determined spirit 
which expelled those troops, who polluted your streets 
with innocent blood. You have appointed this anni- 
versary as a standard memorial of the bloody conse- 
quences OF PLACING AN ARMED FORCE IN A POPULOUS 
city, and of your deliverance from the dangers which 
then seemed to hang over your heads ; and I am con- 
fident that you never will betray the least want of 
spirit when called upon to guard your freedom. None 
but they who set a just value upon the blessings of 
liberty are worthy to enjoy her. Your illustrious 
fathers were her zealous votaries. When the blasting 
frowns of tyranny drove her from public view, they 
clasped her in their arms, they cherished her in their 
generous bosoms, they brought her safe over the rough 
ocean, and fixed her seat in this then dreary wilderness ; 
they nursed her infant age with the most tender care. 
For her sake, they patiently bore the severest hardships ; 
for her support, they underwent the must rugged toils : 
in her defence, they boldly encountered the most 
alarming dangers ; neither the ravenous beasts that 
ranged the woods for prey, nor the more furious sav- 
ages of the wilderness, could damp their ardor ! — 
Whilst with one hand they broke the stubborn glebe, 
with the other they grasped their weapons, every ready 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 31 

to protect her from danger. No sacrifice, not even 
their own blood, was esteemed too rich a libation for her 
altar ! God prospered their valor : they preserved her 
brilliancy unsullied ; they enjoyed her whilst they lived, 
and, dying, bequeathed the dear inheritance to your 
care. And, as they left you this gloiious legacy, they 
have undoubtedly transmitted to you some portion of 
their noble spirit, to inspire you with virtue to merit 
her, and courage to preserve her: you surely cannot, 
with such examples before your eyes, as every page of 
the history of this country aiFords,* suffer your liberties 
to be ravished from you by lawless force, or cajoled 
away by flattery and fraud. 

The voice of your fathers' blood cries to you from the 
ground, " My sons, scorn to be slaves ! In vain we met 
the frowns of tyrants — in vain we crossed the bois- 
terous ocean, found a new world, and prepared it for 
the happy residence of liberty — in vain we toiled — 
in vain we fought — we bled in vain, if you, our off- 
spring, want valor to repel the assaults of her invaders !" 
Stain not the glory of your worthy ancestors, but 
like them resolve, never to part with your birth-right. 
Be wise in your deliberations, and determined in your 
exertions for the preservation of your liberties. Follow 
not the dictates of passion, but enlist yourselves under 
the sacred banner of reason ; use every method in 
your power to secure your rights ; at least prevent the 

* At siraul heroum laudes, et facta parentis 

Jam legere, et quae sit poteris cognoscere virtus. — Virg. 



32 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

curses of posterity from being heaped upon your me- 
mories. 

If you, with united zeal and fortitude, oppose the 
torrent of oppression ; if you feel the true fire of patrio- 
tism burning in your breasts ; if you, from your souls, 
despise the most gaudy dress that slavery can wear ; 
if you really prefer the lonely cottage (whilst blest with 
liberty) to gilded palaces, surrounded with the ensigns 
of slavery, — you may have the fullest assurance that 
tyranny, with her whole accursed train, will hide their 
hideous heads in confusion, shame and despair. If you 
perform your part, you must have the strongest confi- 
dence,that the same Almighty Being who protected your 
pious and venerable forefathers, who enabled them to 
turn a barren wilderness into a fruitful field, who so 
often made bare his arm for their salvation, will still be 
mindful of you, their offspring. 

May this Almighty being graciously preside in all 
our councils ! May he direct us to such measures as he 
himself shall approve, and be pleased to bless ! May 
we ever be a people favored of God ! May our land be 
a land of liberty, the seat of virtue, the asylum of 
the oppressed, a name and a praise in the whole earth, 
until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of 
the world in one common undistinguished ruin ! 

This oration was justly appreciated by the public ; a 
committee was appointed to return the thanks of the 
town to the speaker, and the production was widely 



GEN. JOSEPH WAR HEN. 33 

circulated in pamphlet form. But it was not by the 
power of oratory alone that Dr. Warren aroused his 
countrymen to a sense of their rights and kept alive 
the flame of liberty. He wielded a keen and versatile 
pen, and did not hesitate to employ it on any occasion 
when it was deemed necessary to thwart the ambitious 
plans of the royal governors, or to expose their infamous 
designs. During the excitement which followed the 
publishing of Lord Shelburne's letter of Sept. 17, 1767, 
to Governor Bernard, Dr. Warren addressed a letter 
to his Excellency, which was regarded as libellous by 
the minions of royalty ; and an attempt was made to 
silence the author by an indictment, but the grand jury 
refused to find a bill. Nothing daunted, our hero 
became more busy than ever with both pen and tongue ; 
and as the affection with which he was regarded, espe- 
cially by the industrious classes, was universal and 
sincere, his influence upon all ranks was very great. 
In the Boston Gazette, the chosen vehicle of the politi- 
cal writings of Samuel Adams, James Otis, John 
Adams, Josiah Quincy, Dr. Cooper, Dr. Chauncey, 
Benjamin Church, and others, He undoubtedly continued 
his essays, but these writings cannot now be identified. 
He probably wrote over fictitious signatures, and cared 
little for the credit of authorship. 

He also corresponded extensively with kindred 
spirits in other provinces, as well as in Massachusetts, 
and contributed largely to animate his friends to activity 
in the subject which was nearest his heart. These 



34 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

letters, coming from any respectable person,, would have 
been influential merely from the nervous reasoning and 
spirit of determination characterizing them ; but, origi- 
nating with a man of the weight of society in Dr. 
Warren, they had a double force ; and so logically and 
irresistibly did he express his views, that none who were 
favored by his correspondence could fail to be con- 
vinced of the righteousness and justice of the cause he 
espoused. 



M 



(JEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 35 



CHAPTER II. 

Appointed on the Committee of Correspondence in 1772. -"-Drafts a 
Report. — His great Services as a Member of the Committee. — His 
Political Influence. — The Tea Party. — Letter to Josiah Quincy, Jr. 
— Member of the Provincial Congress. — Becomes the Leader of 
that Body. — His Important Services in 1774-75. — Volunteers to 
pronounce the Boston Oration for March, 1775. — The Oration, and 
circumstances attending its delivery. — His Intrepidity. — Letter of 
Samuel Adams. 

In October, 1772, he was appointed, with a glorious 
band of the leading patriots of Massachusetts, on the 
Committee of Correspondence ; and he at once became 
one of the most active members of that celebrated 
body. In connection with Samuel Adams, the father 
of this great invention, he pushed forward the measures 
of opposition to parliamentary encroachments, and 
used his utmost influence to bring the various towns in 
the province into a concert of action. One of the first 
steps of the Committee after its organization was to 
appoint sub-Committees to draft reports in pursuance of 
the plan proposed by the originator ; and on the 20th 
of November, the chairman presented their celebrated 
report, consisting of three heads : 1st, A Statement of 
the Rights of the Colonists ; 2d, A List of the In- 
fringements of those Rights ; and, 3d, A Letter of Cor- 
respondence with the other towns. The first was writ- 
ten by Samuel Adams, the second by Joseph Warren, 



36 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

and the third by Benjamin Church, as the original manu 
script journals of the Committee of Correspondence 
still exist to prove. 

The List of Infringements, which now particularly 
interests us, occupies fourteen pages in the printed 
pamphlet in which these proceedings were published in 
1772 ; they are divided into twelve distinct articles, and 
constitute a manly vindication of the privileges of the 
Colonists, and set forth with a glaring distinctness the 
encroachments and grievances which had been sustained 
at the hands of Britain. Mr. Barry represents them 
as a " formidable array of complaints," and sums them 
up as follows : u The assumption of absolute legislative 
powers ; the imposition of taxes without the consent of 
the people ; the appointment of officers unknown to the 
charter, supported by income derived from such taxes ; 
the investing these officers with unconstitutional pow- 
ers, especially the ' Commissioners of his Majesty's 
Customs ; ' the annulment of laws enacted by the 
court after the time limited for their rejection had ex- 
pired ; the introduction of fleets and armies into the 
Colonies ; the support of the executive and the judi- 
ciary, independently of the people ; the oppressive 
instructions sent to the Governor ; the extension of the 
powers of the Court of Vice-Admiralty ; the restriction 
of manufactures ; the act relating to dock yards and 
stores, which deprived the people of the right of trial 
by peers in their own vicinage ; the attempt to ' estab- 
lish an Americon episcopate ; ' and the alteration of 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 37 

the bounds of Colonies by decisions before the King 
and Council." 

These various complaints are expressed in a vigorous 
and felicitous style ; and, besides exhibiting the perfec- 
tion to which their author had carried the art of com- 
position, they evidenced a sound legal mind, and a 
clear insight into the subjects of controversy then agi- 
tating the country. With a singular disregard of the 
honors of authorship, Dr. Warren left no memorials 
whereby his productions could be identified ; and it is 
only by the time-worn manuscripts of the Boston Com- 
mittee of Correspondence, that his origination of this 
masterly paper has been preserved. 

We find him taking a conspicuous part in the excit- 
ing events of 1772-3-4, and always among the first to 
brave danger and encourage the faltering. Not only 
by his example did he support the glorious cause of 
freedom : he took great pains to encourage and stimu- 
late others to the good work ; for it should be remem- 
bered that the important measures of the revolutionary 
era were by no means unanimous. There were many 
among the most respectable and virtuous of the inhab- 
itants who were far from advocating or countenancing 
the bold measures adopted by such men as Joseph War- 
ren and Samuel Adams. Many were fearful that the 
extremes to which the popular leaders were likely to be 
hurried by their zeal, would close the door on any future 
attempts at reconciliation with Great Britain, and in- 
volve the country in a war, the result of which could 



38 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

not but prove disastrous to America. The arguments 
of such he labored to refute, both by his publications 
in the papers and by his brilliant conversation; a power 
he possessed to such a degree as to bear away all be- 
fore him by his ingenuity, fluency, and depth of reason- 
ing. 

A crisis at length arrived, when mere discussions and 
harangues could not avail to avert the destruction 
aimed at the liberties of the country. The " detested 
tea" arrived at Boston, and the country was soon in a 
blaze of excitement. The Committee of Correspond- 
ence and the selectmen of the towns summoned meet- 
ings : and every friend of his country was urged to 
make a united and successful resistance to " this last, 
worst, and most destructive measure of administra- 
tion." 

On the 29th of November, 1773, the people met at 
Faneuil Hall, but, for want of room, adjourned to the 
Old South Meeting House, where Samuel Adams, Jo- 
seph Warren, John Hancock, Young, Mollineux, and 
Williams, openly and fearlessly conducted the affairs of 
the meeting. What part was respectively taken by 
these undaunted patriots can never be known, except 
that Jonathan Williams acted as moderator of the meet- 
ing. This was the commencement of the series of 
events which produced the destruction of the tea, the 
Boston Port Bill, the first Congress, and finally, by 
similar progressive events, the independence of America. 

If the Boston Tea Party had its origin with the 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 39 

Committee of Correspondence, which is very probable, 
Dr. Warren was undoubtedly one of its promoters ; and 
it is not difficult to imagine his satisfaction, after that 
important event had occurred, that no riot or violence 
had transpired to mar the order and regularity of the 
proceeding. 

From this time forth, he must doubtless have seen 
the impossibility of ever establishing harmony between 
Great Britain and the Colonies. With the one, a blind 
infatuation seemed to impel them from one fatal error 
to another, with the idea that a people determined to be 
free could be coerced into submission to the arbitrary 
measures of tyranny ; with the other, a spirit of free- 
dom was abroad, as wild and untameable as the north 
wind, and which neither flattery nor cruelty could sub- 
due. 

During the sitting of the first Provincial Congress, 
in November, 1774, he wrote to his friend Josiah Quin- 
cy, jr., then in London, the following note, which fully 
expresses his own views, and in a few lines tells of the 
rapid march of the colonists towards the goal of freedom : 

" It is the united voice of America to preserve their 
freedom, or lose their lives in defence of it. Their 
resolutions are not the effects of inconsiderate rashness, 
but the sound result of sober inquiry and deliberation. 
I am convinced that the true spirit of liberty was never 
so universally diffused through all ranks and orders of 
the people in any country on the face of the earth, 
as it is now through all North America." 



40 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

There spoke the exultation of his own intrepid heart. 
In the privacy of a confidential letter to a friend, he 
could use language, which, in the calmly considered pa- 
pers destined for public perusal, it was prudent to 
repress until the course of events had ripened into the 
hour for the last appeal. 

In September, 1774, he was chosen a delegate from 
Suffolk County to the General Assembly of Massachu- 
setts, — which Assembly was subsequently prohibited 
from convening, by the proclamation of Gov. Gage. 
They nevertheless met ; and the Governor not making 
his appearance, after waiting during part of two days, 
until the Chief Magistrate could no longer be expected, 
the Convention was organized without him, and shortly 
after assumed the name of the Provincial Congress. 

From this time, Dr. Warren became the leading spirit 
of the province. He appears to have been the soul 
which animated all to the most important measures. 
With John Hancock, who was President of the Provin- 
cial Congress, he transmitted intelligence to the dele- 
gates * in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, 
and was indefatigable in the suggestion and accomp- 
lishment of measures by which the Congress was main- 
ly guided. In the printed journals of the Provincial 
Congress, his name appears in the index seventy-six 
times, and upon examination we find him to have been 
on nearly every important committee for the writing of 

* Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat 
Paine. 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 41 

reports, addresses, letters, and important State papers, 
showing a diversity of talent, a facility of composition, 
a comprehensiveness of all the questions at issue, and 
a power of application, which leave us in doubt which 
most to admire, — his ceaseless industry in the cabinet, 
or his bravery in the field. 

Although his exertions in Congress continued without 
intermission, he found time to give some attention to 
the duties of his profession, as well as to project 
measures in connection with others, for the defence of 
the province, and to forward the various plans for re- 
sisting the agressions of the British troops, then in 
possession of Boston. 

In November, 1774, the delegates to the Continental 
Congress returned from Philadelphia ; and the second 
Provincial Congress convened at Cambridge on the 1st 
of February, 1775, whence they adjourned on the 16th, 
and met at Concord, March 22d. In the interim, the 
anniversary of the Boston Massacre recurred ; and, as 
usual, the Committee appointed by the town on the pre- 
ceding occasion, proceeded to select an orator to 
address the people. This was the fourth anniversary 
of the Massacre ; and the addresses which had been 
made on these occasions, calculated as they were to 
impress the people with a just sense of their wrongs, 
had excited the rage of the royalists, and particularly 
of the British officers, who, it was reported, had deter- 
mined by some means to put a stop to them. With 
this view, sundry dark threats were sent abroad, that 



42 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

whoever had the temerity to recite one of these incen- 
diary orations for the future, would be in danger of his 
life ; -this, it "was thought, would have the effect of de- 
terring any persons from engaging in so thankless and 
hazardous a task. 

It was usual, as will be seen by the proceedings on 
the Records of the Town of Boston, for the Committee 
appointed for that purpose to wait upon some of the 
most eminent public speakers on the side of liberty, 
and request their services on these occasions ; but, 
hearing of the threats, our dauntless Warren, emulous 
of this post of danger, solicited for himself the honor 
of performing this duty. It was accorded him ; and, 
the circumstance being noised among the Tories, it is 
reported that on the morning of the 6th of March, Dr. 
Warren was met in King Street by a British officer, 
who drew forth a few bullets, and tossed them in his 
hand, looking significantly at the doctor as he passed. 
Various other threats of taking his life were made ; and 
the Old South was crowded at the appointed hour, 
though many supposed the oration would not be deliv- 
ered at such risk. The scene was a striking and 
memorable one : an utter silence reigned throughout 
the congregation. In the pulpit, which was covered 
with black cloth, sat Samuel Adams, John Hancock, 
Dr. Cooper, Dr. Church, and others. For an hour the 
multitude sat " gaping at one another and expecting," 
as a writer in Rivington's New York Gazette^ of 
March 16, 1775, has described it. "At last," he says, 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 43 

" a single horse chaise stopped at the apothecary's, 
opposite the meeting, from which descended the orator 
(Warren) of the day, and entering the shop, was fol- 
lowed by a servant with a bundle, in which were the 
Ciceronean toga, &c, &c." He entered the pulpit by 
a ladder placed at a window, and, in the midst of a 
profound silence, commenced his exordium in a firm 
tone of voice. His friends, though determined to 
avenge any attempt at assassination, trembled for his 
safety. The oration was frequently interrupted by the 
groaning of the tory part of the congregation, and by 
the applause of the friends of liberty. 

This oration is much longer, and evidently prepared 
with more care, than that of 1772 ; and it would be dif- 
ficult to find a production of its kind equally well 
adapted to the circumstances under which it was deliv- 
ered, or better calculated to arouse all the land to that 
pitch of keen enthusiasm necessary to assert the prin- 
ciple of liberty, even to the sword and the cannon's 
mouth. Magoon has aptly said of it, that " it resounds 
with the clash of arms, and is imbued with a high spirit 
of chivalry and faith." His brave example and elo- 
quent speech caused millions of hearts to beat with a 
common sentiment of resistance. Every rock and wild 
ravine was made a rampart to " the sons of liberty ;" 
and their banner was on every summit unfurled, 
inscribed in letters of fire, " Resistance to tyrants is 
obedience to God/" 



44 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 



ORATION DELIVERED AT BOSTON, MARCH 
6, 1775. 

BY DR. JOSEPH WARREN. 

Tantae molis erat, Romanam condere, gentem. 

Virgil's JEn. 
Qui, metuens, vivit, liber mihi non erit unquam. 

Hor. Epis. 

My ever honored Fellow- Citizens , — It is not without 
the most humiliating conviction of my want of ability 
that I now appear before you ; but the sense I have of 
the obligation I am under to obey the calls of my 
country at all times, together with an animating recol- 
lection of your indulgence, exhibited upon so many 
occasions, has induced me once more, undeserving as I 
am, to throw myself upon that candor which looks with 
kindness on the feeblest efforts of an honest mind. 

You will not now expect the elegance, the learning, 
the fire, the enrapturing strains of eloquence, which 
charmed you when a Lovell, a Church, or a Han- 
cock spake ; but you will permit me to say, that, with a 
sincerity equal to theirs, I mourn over my bleeding 
country ; with them I w T eep at her distress, and with 
them deeply resent the many injuries she has received 
from the hands of cruel and unreasonable men. 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 45 

That personal freedom is the natural right of every 
man, and that property, or an exclusive right to dis- 
pose of what he has honestly acquired by his own 
labor, necessarily arises therefrom, are truths which 
common sense has placed beyond the reach of contra- 
diction. And no man or body of men can, without 
being guilty of flagrant injustice, claim a right to dis- 
pose of the persons or acquisitions of any other man 
or body of men, unless it can be proved that such a 
right has arisen from some compact between the par- 
ties, in which it has been explicitly and freely granted. 

If I may be indulged in taking a retrospective view 
of the first settlement of our country, it will be easy 
to determine with what degree of justice the late 
parliament of Great Britain have assumed the power 
of giving away that property which the Americans 
have earned by their labor. 

Our fathers having nobly resolved never to wear the 
yoke of despotism, and seeing the European world at 
that time, through indolence and cowardice, falling a 
prey to tyranny, bravely threw themselves upon the 
bosom of the ocean, determined to find a place in 
which they might enjoy their freedom, or perish in the 
glorious attempt. Approving Heaven beheld the favo- 
rite ark dancing upon the waves, and graciously pre- 
served it until the chosen families were brought in 
safety to these western regions. They found the land 
swarming with savages, who threatened death, with 
every kind of torture. But savages, and death with 



4:6 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

torture, were far less terrible than slavery: nothing 
was so much the object of their abhorrence as a tyrant's 
power ; they knew it was more safe to dwell with man 
in his most unpolished state, than in a country where 
arbitrary power prevails. Even anarchy itself, that 
bugbear held up by the tools of power (though truly 
to be deprecated), is infinitely less dangerous to man- 
kind than arbitrary government. Anarchy can be but 
of a short duration ; for, when men are at liberty to pur- 
sue that course which is most conducive to their own 
happiness, they will soon come into it, and from the 
rudest state of nature, order and good government 
must soon arise. But tyranny, when once established, 
entails its curses on a nation to the latest period of 
time, unless some daring genius, inspired by Heaven, 
shall, unappalled by danger, bravely form and execute 
the arduous design of restoring liberty and life to his 
enslaved, murdered country. 

The tools of power, in every age, have racked their 
inventions to justify the few in sporting with the hap- 
piness of the many, and having found their sophistry 
too weak to hold mankind in bondage, have impiously 
dared to force religion, the daughter of the King of 
heaven, to become a prostitute in the service of hell. 
They taught that princes, honored with the name of 
Christian, might bid defiance to the founder of their 
faith, might pillage Pagan countries and deluge them 
with blood, only because they boasted themselves to be 
the disciples of that teacher who strictly charged his 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 47 

followers to do to others as they would that others should 
do unto them. 

This country having been discovered by an English 
subject, in the year 1620, was (according to the sys- 
tem which the blind superstition of those times sup- 
ported) deemed the property of the crown of England. 
Our ancestors, when they resolved to quit their native 
soil, obtained from king James a grant of certain lands 
in North America. This they probably did to silence 
the cavils of their enemies ; for it cannot be doubted 
but they despised the pretended right which he claimed 
thereto. Certain it is, that he might, with equal pro- 
priety and justice, have made them a grant of the 
planet Jupiter. And their subsequent conduct plainly 
shows that they were too well acquainted with humanity 
and the principles of natural equity, to suppose that 
the grant gave them any right to take possession ; they 
therefore entered into a treaty with the natives, and 
bought from them the lands : nor have I ever yet ob- 
tained any information that our ancestors ever pleaded, 
or that the natives ever regarded, the grant from the 
English crown. The business was transacted by 
the parties in the same independent manner that it 
would have been had neither of them ever known or 
heard of the island of Great Britain. 

Having become the honest proprietors of the soil, 
they immediately applied themselves to the cultivation 
of it ; and they soon beheld the virgin earth teeming 
with richest fruits, a grateful recompense] for their 



48 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

unwearied toil. The fields began to wave with ripening 
harvests, and the late barren wilderness was seen to 
blossom like the rose. The savage natives saw with 
wonder the delightful change, and quickly formed a 
scheme to obtain that, by fraud or force, whieh nature 
meant as the reward of industry alone. But the illus- 
trious emigrants soon convinced the rude invaders that 
they were not less ready to take the field for battle 
than for labor ; and the insidious foe was driven from 
their borders as often as he ventured to disturb them. 
The crown of England looked with indifference on the 
contest ; our ancestors were left alone to combat with 
the natives. Nor is there any reason to believe that 
it ever was intended by the one party, or expected by 
the other, that the grantor should defend and maintain 
the grantees in the peaceable possession of the lands 
named in the patents. And it appears plainly, from 
the history of those times, that neither the prince nor 
the people of England thought themselves much inter- 
ested in the matter. They had not then any idea of a 
thousandth part of those advantages which they since 
have, and we are most heartily willing they should still 
continue to reap from us. 

But when, at an infinite expense of toil and blood, 
this widely extended continent had been cultivated and 
defended ; when the hardy adventurers justly ex- 
pected that they and their descendants should peace- 
ably have enjoyed the harvest of those fields which 
they had sown, and the fruit of those vineyards which 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 49 

they bad planted, — this country was then thought worthy 
the attention of the British ministry ; and the only 
justifiable and only successful means of rendering the 
colonies serviceable to Britain were adopted. By an in- 
tercourse of friendly offices, the two countries became so 
united in affection, that they thought not of any distinct 
or separate interests ; they found both countries flour- 
ishing and happy. Britain saw her commerce extended 
and her wealth increased, her lands raised to an im- 
mense valne, her fleets riding triumphant on the ocean, 
the terror of her arms spreading to every quarter of 
the globe. The colonist found himself free, and 
thought himself secure ; he dwelt under his own vine 
and under his own fig-tree, and had none to make him 
afraid. He knew, indeed, that by purchasing the 
manufactures of Great Britain, he contributed to its 
greatness, — he knew that all the wealth that his labor 
produced centered in Great Britain ; but that, far from 
exciting his envy, filled him with the highest pleasure, 
that thought supported him in all his toils. When the 
business of the day was past, he solaced himself with 
the contemplation, or perhaps entertained his listening 
family with the recital, of some great, some glorious 
transaction which shines conspicuous in the history of 
Britain ; or, perhaps, his elevated fancy led him to 
foretell, with a kind of enthusiastic confidence, the 
glory, power, and duration of an empire which should 
extend from one end of the earth to the other. He 
saw, or thought he saw, the British nation risen to a pitch 
3 



50 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

of grandeur which cast a veil over the Roman glory ; 
and, ravished with the prce view, boasted a race of 
British kings, whose names should echo through those 
realms where Cjrus, Alexander, and the Caesars were 
unknown, — princes for whom millions of grateful sub- 
jects redeemed from slavery and Pagan ignorance 
should, with thankful tongues, offer up their prayers, 
and praises to that transcendently great and beneficent 
Being by whom kings reign and princes decree justice. 

These pleasing connections might have continued, 
these delightsome prospects might have been every 
day extended, and even the reveries of the most warm 
imagination might have been realized ; but, unhappily 
for us, unhappily for Britain, the madness of an avari- 
cious minister of state, has drawn a sable curtain over 
the charming scene, and in its stead has brought upon 
the stage discord, envy, hatred and revenge, with civil 
war close in their rear. 

Some demon, in an evil hour, suggested to a short- 
sighted financier the hateful project of transferring the 
whole property of the king's subjects in America to 
his subjects in Britain. The claim of the British par- 
liament to tax the colonies can never be supported 
but by such a transfer : for the right of the House of 
Commons of Great Britain to originate any tax or 
grant of money is altogether derived from their being 
elected by the people of Gre^t Britain to act for them ; 
and the people of Great Britain cannot confer on their 
representatives a right to give or grant any thing which 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 51 

they themselves have not a right to give or grant per- 
sonally. Therefore it follows, that, if the members 
chosen by the people of Great Britain to represent 
them in parliament, have, by virtue of their being so 
chosen, any right to give or grant American property, 
or to lay any tax upon the lands or persons of the 
colonists, it is because the lands and people in the 
colonies are bona fide owned by, and justly belonging 
to, the people of Great Britain. But (as has been be- 
fore observed) every man has a right to personal free- 
dom, consequently a right to enjoy what is acquired 
by his own labor ; and it is evident that the property 
in this country has been acquired by our own labor. 
It is the duty of the people of Great Britain to produce 
some compact in which we have explicitly given up to 
them a right to dispose of our persons or property. 
Until this is done, every attempt of theirs, or of those 
whom they have deputed to act for them, to give or 
grant any part of our property, is directly repugnant 
to every principle of reason and natural justice. But 
I may boldly say, that such a compact never existed ; 
no, not even in imagination. Nevertheless, the repre- 
sentatives of a nation, long famed for justice and the 
exercise of every noble virtue, have been prevailed on 
to adopt the fatal scheme ; and, although the dreadful 
consequences of this wicked policy have already shaken 
the empire to its centre, yet still it is persisted in. 
Regardless of the voice of reason, deaf to the prayers 
and supplications, and unaffected with the flowing 



52 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

tears of suffering millions, the British ministry still 
hug the darling idol ; and every rolling year affords 
fresh instances of the ab?urd devotion with which they 
worship it. Alas ! how has the folly, the distraction, 
of the British councils blasted our swelling hopes, and 
spread a gloom over this western hemisphere ! 

The hearts of Britons and Americans, which lately 
felt the generous glow of mutual confidence and love, 
now burn with jealousy and rage. Though but of yes- 
terday, I recollect (deeply affected at the ill-boding 
change) the happy hours that passed whilst Britain and 
America rejoiced in the prosperity and greatness of 
each other. Heaven grant those halcyon days may 
soon return ! But now the Briton too often looks on 
the American with an envious eye, taught to consider 
his just plea for the enjoyment of his earnings as the 
effect of pride and stubborn opposition to the parent 
country ; whilst the American beholds the Briton as 
the ruffian, ready first to take away his property, and 
next, what is still dearer to every virtuous man, the 
liberty of his country. 

When the measures of administration had disgusted 
the Colonies to the highest degree, and the people of 
Great Britain had, by artifice and falsehood, been irri- 
tated against America, an army was sent over to en- 
force submission to certain acts of the British parlia- 
ment, which reason scorned to countenance, and which 
placemen and pensioners were found unable to support. 

Martial law and the government of a well-regulated 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN 53 

city are so entirely different, that it has always been con- 
sidered as improper to quarter troops in populous cities. 
Frequent disputes must necessarily arise between the 
citizen and the soldier, even if no previous animosities 
subsist. And it is further certain, from a consideration 
of the nature of mankind, as well as from constant ex- 
perience, that standing armies always endanger the lib- 
erty of the subject. But when the people on the one 
part considered the army as sent to enslave them, and 
the army on the other were taught to look on the peo- 
ple as in a state of rebellion, it was but just to fear the 
most disgraceful consequences. Our fears, we have 
seen, were but too well grounded. 

The many injuries offered to the town, I pass over in 
silence. I cannot now mark out the path which led to 
that unequalled scene of horror, the sad remembrance 
of which takes the full possession of my soul. The 
sanguinary theatre again opens itself to view. The 
baleful images of terror crowd around me ; and dis- 
contented ghosts, with hollow groans, appear to solem- 
nize the anniversary of the Fifth of March. 

Approach we then the melancholy walk of death. 
Hither let me call the gay companion, — here let him 
drop a farewell tear upon that body which so late he saw 
vigorous and warm with social mirth ; hither let me lead 
the tender mother to weep over her beloved son ; 
come, widowed mourner, here satiate thy grief, — be- 
hold thy murdered husband gasping on the ground ; 
and, to complete the pompous show of wretchedness, 



04 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

bring in each hand thy infant children, to bewail their 
father's fate. Take heed, ye orphan babes, lest, whilst 
your streaming eyes are fixed upon the ghastly corpse, 
your feet slide on the stones bespattered with your fa- 
ther's brains.* Enough! this tragedy need not be height- 
ened by an infant weltering in the blood of him that 
gave it birth. Nature, reluctant, shrinks already from 
the view, and the chilled blood rolls slowly backward 
to its fountain. We wildly stare about, and, with 
amazement, ask : Who spread this ruin round us ? what 
wretch has dared deface the image of his God ? has 
haughty France or cruel Spain sent forth her myrmi- 
dons? has the grim savage rushed again from the 
far distant wilderness ? or does some fiend, fierce 
from the depth of hell, with all the rancorous malice 
which the apostate damned can feel, twang his destruct- 
ive bow, and hurl his deadly arrows at our breast ? 
No, none of these ; but, how astonishing ! it is the 
hand of Britain that inflicts the wound. The arms of 
George, our rightful king, have been employed to shed' 
that blood, when justice, or the honor of his crown, 
had called his subjects to the field. 

But pity, grief, astonishment, with all the softer 
movements of the soul, must now give way to stronger 
passions. Say, fellow-citizens, what dreadful thought 
now swells your heaving bosoms ? You fly to arms — 

* After Mr. Gray had been shot through the body and had fallen 
dead on the ground, a bayonet was pushed through his skull ; part 
of the bone being broken, his brains fell out upon the pavement. 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 55 

sharp indignation flashes from each eye — revenge 
gnashes her iron teeth — death grins a hideous smile, 
secure to drench his greedy jaws in human gore, 
whilst hovering furies darken all the air. 

But stop, my bold, adventurous countrymen, stain not 
your weapons with the blood of Britons. Attend to 
reason's voice ; humanity puts in her claim, and sues to 
be again admitted to her wonted seat, the bosom of the 
brave. Be venge is far beneath the noble mind. Many, 
perhaps, compelled to rank among the vile assassins, 
do from their inmost souls detest the barbarous action. 
The winged death shot from your arms may chance to 
pierce some. breast that bleeds already for your injured 
country. 

The storm subsides ; a solemn pause ensues. You 
spare, upon condition they depart. They go, — they 
quit your city; they no more shall give offence. 
Thus closes the important drama. 

And could it have been conceived that we again 
should have seen a British army in our land, sent to en- 
force obedience to acts of parliament destructive of our 
liberty? But the royal ear, far distant from this west- 
ern world, has been assaulted by the tongue of slander ; 
and villains, traitorous alike to king and country, have 
prevailed upon a gracious prince to clothe his counte- 
nance with wrath, and to erect the hostile banner against 
a people ever affectionate and loyal to him and his illus- 
trious predecessors of the house of Hanover. Our 
streets are again filled with armed men ; our harbor is 



5G BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

crowded with ships of war. But these cannot intimi- 
date us : our liberty must be preserved ; it is far dear- 
er than life, we hold it even dear as our allegiance; 
we must defend it against the attacks of friends as 
well as enemies ; we cannot suffer even Britons to ravish 
it from us. 

No longer could we reflect with generous pride on 
the heroic actions of our American forefathers ; no 
longer boast our origin from that far-famed island, 
whose warlike sons have so often drawn their well-tried 
swords to save her from the ravages of tyranny, — could 
we, but for a moment, entertain the thought of giving 
up our liberty. The man who meanly will submit to 
wear a sliaelde contemns the noblest gift of Heaven, 
and impiously affronts the God that made him free. 

It was a maxim of the Roman people, which eminent- 
ly conduced to the greatness of that state, never to 
despair of the commonwealth. The maxim may prove 
as salutary to us now, as it did to them. Short-sight- 
ed mortals see not the numerous links of small and 
great events, which form the chain on which the fate of 
kings and nations is suspended. Ease and prosperity, 
though pleasing for a day, have often sunk a people into 
effeminacy and sloth. Hardships and dangers, though 
we forever strive to shun them, have frequently called 
forth such virtues as have commanded the applause 
and reverence of an admiring world. Our country 
loudly calls you to be circumspect, vigilant, active, and 
brave. Perhaps — all gracious Heaven avert it ! 



GeN. JOSEPH WARREN. 57 

— perhaps the power of Britain, a nation great in 
war, by some malignant influence, may be employed to 
enslave you; but let not even this discourage you. 
Her arms, 'tis true, have filled the world with terror ; 
her troops have reaped the laurels of the field ; her 
fleets have rode triumphant on the sea ; — and when or 
where did you, my countrymen, depart inglorious from 
the field of fight?* You too can show the tro- 
phies of your forefathers' victories and your own; can 
na jae the fortresses and battles you have won ; and ma- 
ny of you count the honorable scars of wounds received 
whilst fighting for your king and country. 

Where justice is the standard, Heaven is the war- 
rior's shield ; but conscious guilt unnerves the arm that 

* The patience with which this people have borne the repeated in- 
juries which have been heaped upon them, and their unwillingnes to 
take any sanguinary measures, has very injudiciously been ascribed to 
cowardice, by persons both here and in Great Britain. I most heart- 
ily wish that an opinion, so erroneous in itself, and so fatal in its con- 
sequences, might be utterly removed before it be too late ; and I think 
nothing further necessary to convince every intelligent man that the 
conduct of this people is owing to the tender regard which they have 
for their fellow-men, and an utter abhorrence to the shedding of hu- 
man blood, than a little attention to their general temper and disposi- 
tion, discovered when they cannot be supposed to be under any ap- 
prehension of danger to themselves. I will only mention the universal 
detestation which they show to every act of cruelty, by whom and 
upon whomsoever committed ; the mild spirit of their laws ; the very 
few crimes to which capital penalties are annexed; and the very 
great backwardness which both courts and juries discover in condemn- 
ing persons charged with capital crimes. But, if any should think 
this observation not to the purpose, I readily appeal to those gentle- 
men of the army who have been in the camp or in the field with the 
Americans. 

3* 



58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OP 

lifts the sword against the innocent. Britain, united 
■with these colonies by commerce and affection, by in- 
terest and blood, may mock the threats of France and 
Spain, — may be the seat of universal empire. But 
should America, either by force, or those more danger- 
ous engines, luxury and corruption, ever be brought 
into a state of vassalage, Britain must lose her free- 
dom also. No longer shall she sit the empress of the 
sea ; her ships no more shall waft her thunders over the 
wide ocean ; the wreath shall wither on her temples ; 
her weakened arm shall be unable to defend her coasts; 
and she, at last, must bow her venerable head to some 
proud foreigner's despotic rule. 

But if, from past events, we may venture to form a 
judgment of the future, we justly may expect that the 
devices of our enemies will but increase the triumphs 
of our country. I must indulge a hope that Britain's 
liberty, as well as ours, will eventually be preserved by 
the virtue of America. 

The attempt of the British parliament to raise a rev- 
enue from America, and our denial of their right to do 
it, have excited an almost universal inquiry into the 
right of mankind in general, and of British subjects in 
particular ; the necessary result of which must be such 
a liberality of sentiment, and such a jealousy of those 
in power, as will, better than an adamantine wall, se- 
cure us against the future approaches of despotism. 

The malice of the Boston Port-bill has been defeated, 
in a very considerable degree, by giving you an oppor- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 59 

tunity of deserving, and our brethren in this and our 
sister colonies an opportunity of bestowing, those bene- 
factions which have delighted your friends and aston- 
ished your enemies, not only in America, but in Europe 
also. And, what is more valuable still, the sympathetic 
feelings for a brother in distress, and the grateful emo- 
tions excited in the breast of him who finds relief, must 
forever endear each to the other, and form those indis- 
soluble bonds of friendship and affection on which the 
preservation of our rights so evidently depend. 

The mutilation of our charter has made every other 
colony jealous for its own ; for this, if once submitted to 
by us, would set on float the property and government 
of every British settlement upon the continent. If 
charters are not deemed sacred, how miserably precari- 
ous is everything founded upon them ! 

Even the sending troops to put these acts in execu- 
tion is not without advantages to us. The exactness 
and beauty of their discipline inspire our youth with 
ardor in the pursuit of military knowledge. Charles 
the Invincible taught Peter the Great the art of war. 
The battle of Pultowa convinced Charles of the profi- 
ciency Peter had made. 

Our country is in danger, but not to be despaired of. 
Our enemies are numerous and powerful ; but we have 
many friends, determining to be free, and Heaven and 
earth will aid the resolution. On you depend the for- 
tunes of America. You are to decide the important 
question on which rest the happiness and liberty of 



GO BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

millions yet unborn. Act worthy of yourselves. The 
faltering tongue of hoary age calls on you to support 
your country. The lisping infant raises its suppliant 
hands, imploring defence against the monster slavery. 
Your fathers look from their celestial seats with smiling 
approbation on their sons, who boldly stand forth in the 
cause of virtue ; but sternly frown upon the inhuman 
miscreant, who, to secure the loaves and fishes to him- 
self, would breed a serpent to destroy his children. 

But pardon me, my fellow-citizens ; I know you want 
not zeal nor fortitude. You will maintain your rights, 
or perish in the generous struggle. However difficult 
the combat, you never will decline it when freedom is 
the prize. An independence of Great Britain is not 
our aim. No our wish is, that Britain and the Colo- 
nies may, like the oak and ivy, grow and increase in 
strength together. But whilst the infatuated plan of 
making one part of the empire slaves to the other is 
persisted in, the interest and safety of Britain, as well 
the Colonies, require that the wise measures recom- 
mended by the honorable the Continental Congress be 
steadily pursued ; whereby the unnatural contest be- 
tween a parent honored and a child beloved may prob- 
ably be brought to such an issue, as that the peace and 
happiness of both may be established upon a lasting 
basis. But if these pacific measures are ineffectual, and 
it appears that the only way to safety is through fields 
of blood, I know you will not turn your faces from your 
foes, but will undauntedly press forward, until tyranny 



UEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 61 

is trodden under foot, and you have fixed your adored 
goddess, Liberty, fast by a Brunswick's side, on the 
American throne. 

You then, who nobly have espoused your country's 
cause ; who generously have sacrificed wealth and ease ; 
who have despised the pomp and show of tinselled great- 
ness, refused the summons to the festive board, been 
deaf to the alluring calls of luxury and mirth ; who 
have forsaken the downy pillow, to keep your vigils by 
the midnight lamp, for the salvation of your invaded 
country, that you might break the fowler's snare, and 
disappoint the vulture of his prey, — you, then, will 
reap the harvest of renown which you so justly have 
deserved. Your country shall pay her grateful tribute 
of applause. Even the children of your most invete- 
rate enemies, ashamed to tell from whom they sprang, 
while they in secret curse their stupid, cruel parents, 
shall join the general voice of gratitude to those who 
broke the fetters which their fathers forged. 

Having redeemed your country, and secured the 
blessing to future generations, who, fired by your ex- 
ample, shall emulate your virtues, and learn from you 
the heavenly art of making millions happy, with heart- 
felt joy, with transports all your own, you cry, The 
glorious work is done ! Then drop the mantle to 
some young Elisha, and take your seats with kindred 
spirits in your native skies. 

Of this oration, and of the circumstances attending 
its delivery, Knapp, in his " Biographical Sketches," 



G2 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

published in 1822, says : " The scene was sublime ; a 
patriot, in whom the flush of youth and the grace and 
dignity of manhood were combined, stood armed in the 
sanctuary of God, to animate and encourage the sons 
of liberty to hurl defiance to their oppressors. The 
orator commenced with the early history of the country, 
described the tenure by which we held our liberties and 
property, the affection we had constantly shown the 
parent country, and boldly told them how and by whom 
these blessings of life had been violated. There was, 
in this appeal to Britain, in this description of suffer- 
ing, agony, and horror, a calm and high-souled defiance 
which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. 
Such another hour has seldom appeared in the history 
of man, and is not surpassed in the records of nations. 
The thunders of Demosthenes rolled at a distance from 
Philip and his host ; and Tully poured the fiercest 
torrent of his invectives when Cataline was at a dis- 
tance, and his dagger no longer to be feared ; but 
Warren's speech was made to proud oppressors, rest- 
ing on their arms, whose errand it was to overawe, and 
whose business it was to fight. If the deed of Brutus 
deserved to be commemorated by history, poetry, paint- 
ing, and sculpture, should not this instance of patriot- 
ism and bravery be held in lasting remembrance ? If he 

' That struck the foremost man of all this world ' 

was hailed as the first of freemen, what honors are not 
due to him, who, undismayed, bearded the British lion 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 63 

to show the world what his countrymen dared to do in 
the cause of liberty ? If the statue of Brutus were 
placed among those of the Gods who were the preser- 
vers of Roman freedom, should not that of Warren fill 
a lofty niche in the temple reared to perpetuate the 
remembrance of our birth as a nation ?" 

At the close of the oration, the Moderator, Samuel 
Adams, arose and proposed the nomination of an orator 
to speak the next year on the " bloody massacre." 
Some of the officers, on this, cried out, " Fie ! fie ! " 
and many persons in the galleries, mistaking this for a 
cry of fire, swarmed out of the windows, down the gut- 
ters, into the street. The meeting was further disturbed 
by the 43d regiment, who passed the church with 
drums beating. The writer in Rivingston's New York 
Gazette adds, that there were neither pageantry, exhi- 
bitions, processions, nor bells tolling, as usual, but the 
night was remarkable for being the quietest known for 
many months. 

A fortnight later, Samuel Adams wrote to his friend, 
Richard Henry Lee, respecting this occasion, as fol- 
lows : " On the sixth instant there was an adjournment 
of one of our town meetings, when an oration was de- 
livered in commemoration of the massacre on the fifth 
of March, 1770. I had long expected that they would 
take that occasion to heat up a breeze, and therefore 
(seeing many of the officers present before the orator 
came in), as Moderator of the meeting, I took care to 
have them treated with civility, inviting them into con- 



64 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

venient seats, so that they might have no pretence to 
behave ill ; for it is a good maxim in politics, as well as 
in war, to put and keep the enemy in the wrong. They 
behaved tolerably well until the oration was finished, 
when, upon a motion made for the appointment of 
another orator, as usual, they began to hiss, which 
irritated the assembly to the greatest degree, and con- 
fusion ensued ; they, however, did not gain their end, — 
which was apparently to break up the meeting, — for 
order was soon restored, and we proceeded regularly, 
and finished the business. I am persuaded, that were 
it not for the danger of precipitating a crisis, not a man 
of them would have been spared." 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 55 



CHAPTER III. 

Warren notifies Adams and Hancock of their Danger. — Is present at 
the Battle of Lexington. — Elected President of the Provincial Con- 
gress. — Appointed Major-General of the army . — Interview with 
Elbridge Gerry. — Is slain at the Battle of Bunker Hill. — Edward 
Everett's Eulogy. — Re-interment of his Remains. — Oration by 
Perez Morton on that occasion. — Monument erected to him by 
Free-Masons. — Proceedings of Congress. — Summary of his cha- 
racter. 

The Provincial Congress, probably warned by recent 
information of the intentions of Gen. Gage to pene- 
trate the country with an armed force, adjourned on 
the 15th of April, and dispersed. Adams and Han- 
cock, who were the particular objects of British ven- 
geance, remained at Lexington, where they received 
advices from time to time of the movements at the cap- 
ital. One of the last of the many acts of affection 
which graced the life of Dr. Warren, was his timely 
warning sent from Boston to the two patriots at Lex- 
ington, by which they were apprised of the design of 
seizing them. We are told, in Paul Revere's narrative, 
that on the evening of the 18th of April, 1775, he was 
sent for in great haste by Dr. Warren, who begged 
that he would immediately set off for Lexington, and 
acquaint Adams and Hancock of their danger. But 
the impatience of friendship could not brook even the 
short delay made by the impetuous Revere, who, when 



6(y 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 



he arrived at Warren's house, found that an express 
had already started by land. It is doubtless more to 
the exertions of Dr. Warren on this occasion than those 
of any other person, that the two patriots owe their 
lives. In the memorable battle of the following day, 
where the first blood was shed in defence of American 
liberty, Dr. Warren was no idle spectator ; and it is 
said, in General Heath's Memoirs, that a ball took off 
part of his ear-lock. 

Shortly after the battle, the Provincial Congress 
convened at Watertown ; and Dr. Warren was immedi- 
ately elected President, an office he continued to hold 
until his death. In the confused condition of the pa- 
triot forces, which were gradually assembling at Cam- 
bridge, he exercised great influence in preserving order 
among the troops. On the 19th of May, the Commit- 
tee of Safety, of which he was a member, was clothed 
by the Provincial Congress with full powers to regulate 
the affairs of the army, which was now rapidly increas- 
ing from all the towns of Massachusetts, as well as from 
the neighboring provinces. After the departure of 
Hancock as a delegate to the Continental Congress, 
Warren became the chairman of that Committee, and 
seemed, if possible, to increase his exertions as the 
crisis drew near. Four days previous to the battle of 
Bunker Hill, he received his commission of Major- 
General : he did not, however, choose to assume the 
functions of the office, and the motive for this may be 
gathered from the following account taken from Aus- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 67 

tin's Life of Elbridge Gerry: " On the 16th of June, 
he had a conversation with Mr. Gerry at Cambridge 
respecting the determination of Congress to take pos- 
session of Bunker Hill. He said that for himself, he 
had been opposed to it, but that the majority had de- 
termined upon it, and he would hazard his life to carry 
that determination into effect. Mr. Gerry expressed 
in strong terms his disapprobation of the measure, as 
the situation was such that it would be in vain to at- 
tempt to hold it ; adding, " But if it must be so, it is not 
worth while for you to be present ; it will be madness 
for you to expose yourself where your destruction will 
be almost inevitable." " I know it," he answered ; 
" but I live within the sound of their cannon ; how 
could I hear their roaring in so glorious a cause and 
not be there ?" Again Mr. Gerry remonstrated, and 
concluded with saying, " As surely as you go there 
you will be slain !" General Warren replied, enthusi 
astically, " Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.'' 
The next day his principles were sealed with his blood. 
Having spent the greater part of the night in public 
business at Watertown, he arrived at Cambridge about 
five o'clock in the morning, and, being unwell, threw 
himself on a bed. About noon he was informed of the 
state of preparation for battle at Charlestown. He 
immediately arose, saying he was well again, and 
mounting his horse, rode to the place. He arrived at 
Breed's Hill a short time before the action commenced. 
Colonel Prescott, " the brave," (as Washington was 



(58 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

afterwards in the habit of calling him), was then the 
actual commanding officer. He rode up to General 
Warren to resign his command, and asked what were 
his orders. General Warren told him he came not to 
command, but to learn ; and having, as it is said, bor- 
rowed a musket and cartouch-box from a sergeant who 
was retiring, he mingled in the thickest of the fight, 
animating and encouraging the men more by his exam- 
ple than it was possible to do in any other way. tie 
fell, after the retreat commenced, at some distance in 
the rear of the redoubt. A ball passed through his 
head, and killed him almost instantly. He was thrown 
into the ground where he fell. 

Our too brief sketch would be incomplete without the 
reproduction of Edward Everett's touching and elo- 
quent tribute to his memory. " Amiable, accomplished, 
prudent, energetic, eloquent, brave, he united the graces 
of a manly beauty to a lion heart, a sound mind, a 
safe judgment, and a firmness of purpose which nothing 
could shake. At the period to which I allude, he was 
just thirty-two years of age ; so young, and already the 
acknowledged head of the cause ! He had never seen 
a battle-field ; but the veterans of Louisburg and Que- 
bec looked up to him as their leader, and the hoary- 
headed sages who had guided the public councils for a 
generation came to him for advice. Such he stood, the 
organ of the public sentiment, on the occasion just 
mentioned.* At the close of his impassioned address, 

* The oration of March 6, 1775. 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 69 

after having depicted the labors, hardships, and sacri- 
fices endured by our ancestors in the cause of liberty, 
he broke forth in the thrilling words, ' The voice of our 
fathers' blood cries to us from the ground !' Three 
years only passed away ; the solemn struggle came on : 
foremost in council, he was also foremost in the battle 
field, and offered himself a voluntary victim, the first 
great martyr in the cause. Upon the heights of 
Charlestown, the last that was struck down, he fell with 
a numerous band of kindred spirits, the grey-haired 
veteran, the stripling in the flower of youth, who had 
stood side by side through that dreadful day, and fell 
together like the beauty of Israel, on their high places !" 
On the morning after the battle, when friends and 
relatives were seeking from among the heaps of slain 
the bodies of dear ones now stiff in the embrace of 
death, the body of General Warren was recognized by 
Dr. Jeffries, who was one of his most intimate acquaint- 
ances. A grave was dug on the spot, and the burial 
place marked. The following year, after the evacua- 
tion of Boston by the British troops, the remains were 
disinterred, and on the 8th of April borne in solemn 
procession from the Representative's Chamber to King's 
Chapel, and buried with the full solemnity of military 
and masonic honors. Perez Morton, one of the most 
impressive orators of his time, pronounced an oration 
on the occasion. The solemnity of this scene, after the 
lapse of three quarters of a century, can be but faintly 
conceived or depicted. That the ceremonies were not 



70 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

performed in the Old South, where the voice of Warren 
only a year previously had awakened the patriotism of 
istening thousands, may be accounted for by the dese- 
cration of that sanctuary of liberty by the ruthless in- 
vaders but lately expelled from the city. Its venerable 
walls had echoed to the clang of military exercise, and 
the laughter of the barrack-room ; its pews had been 
torn from the floor and used for fire-wood, and part of 
its broad space turned into a riding-school. It was not 
there, indeed, in view of these wrecks of what had long 
been held sacred to religion and liberty, that the last 
fond rites of friendship and gratitude could be performed 
for the illustrious dead. But these honors were none 
the less impressively rendered in the stone chapel. 
There were congregated the members of the several 
lodges of the order of which General Warren had been 
Grand Master for North America. There, doubtless, 
stood many of the friends who, in the daily walks of 
life, had grasped the hand of their companion, or lis- 
tened to the impassioned flow of language with which 
he was wont to express the ennobling sentiments of 
patriotism ; there, too, were collected crowds of his 
fellow-countrymen, whose memories yet recalled the 
burning eloquence of his public harangues, and in 
whose hearts were engraved his fervid appeals to breast 
with united efforts the gathering storm of oppression 
threatening their liberties, and all that was cherished as 
worthy to be preserved. And amid all these, in the im- 
pressive silence, only disturbed by the rustling of the 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 11 

sombre pageantry of death, were heard the sobs of his 
aged mother. None ventured to obtrude upon the 
sacredness of her grief; but hundreds silently shared it, 
and looked reverently upon her bowed and stricken 
form. Arrayed in simple mourning, his orphan children, 
as yet too young to fully comprehend the solemn scene, 
excited the attention of the father's friends ; but soon, 
above all, arose the voice of the patriot divine, the 
venerable Dr. Samuel Cooper, addressing the throne 
of grace with that touching eloquence which had so 
often made him the choice of the town on occasions of 
public interest. 

The oration by Mr. Morton followed. A writer in 
1806 — a contemporary of Joseph Warren — refers to 
the effect which this eulogy caused among the auditors, 
and particularly when the exordium, commencing with 
" Illustrious Relics I" was pronounced. But we 
will not anticipate this masterly production. It has 
long since passed nearly out of print ; or if preserved, 
like the preceding orations in this sketch, is entombed 
among the dusty pages of historical libraries, whence 
we deem the present a fitting occasion to exhume them. 

The remains of General Warren have since been re- 
moved by his family from King's Chapel to St. Paul's 
Church. In 1794, a masonic lodge in Charlestown, 
Mass., erected a monument to his memory on the spot 
where he fell. It consisted of a brick pedestal eight 
feet square, rising ten feet from the ground, and sup- 
porting a Tuscan pillar of wood eighteen feet high. 



72 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 

This was surmounted by a gilt urn, bearing the inscrip- 
tion, "J. W., aged 35," entwined with masonic 
emblems. 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 73 



AN ORATION, 
Delivered at the King's Chapel in Boston, April 8, 
1776, on the Re-interment of the Remains of the late 
Most Worshipful Grand-Master, Joseph Warren, 
Esquire, President of the late Congress of this Col- 
ony, and Major- General of the Massachusetts forces, 
who was slain in the Battle of Bunker's Hill, June 
17. 1775. 

BY PEREZ MORTON, M. M. 

Illustrious Relics ! — What tidings from the grave ? 
why hast thou left the peaceful mansions of the tomb, 
to visit again this troubled earth ? Art thou the wel- 
come messenger of peace ? art thou risen again to ex- 
hibit thy glorious wounds, and through them proclaim 
salvation to the country ? or art thou come to demand 
that last debt of humanity, to which your rank and 
merit have so justly entitled you, but which has been 
so long ungenerously withheld ? and art thou angry at 
the barbarous usage ? Be appeased, sweet ghost ! for 
though thy body has long laid undistinguished among 
the vulgar dead, scarce privileged with earth enough 
to hide it from the birds of prey ; though not a friendly 
sigh was uttered o'er thy grave ; and though the exe- 
cration of an impious foe were all thy funeral knells, — 
yet, matchless patriot ! thy memory has been embalmed 
4 



74 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

in the affections of thy grateful countrymen, who in 
their breasts have raised eternal monuments to thy 
bravery ! 

But let us leave the beloved remains, and contem- 
plate for a moment those virtues of the man, the ex- 
eraise of which have so deservedly endeared him to the 
honest among the great, and the good among the 
humble. 

In the private walks of life, he was a pattern for 
mankind. The tears of her, to whom the world is in- 
debted for so much virtue, are silent heralds of his filial 
piety ; while his tender offspring, in lisping out their 
father's care, proclaim his parental affection; and an 
Adams can witness with how much zeal he loved, where 
he had formed the sacred connection of & friend. Their 
kindred souls were so closely twined, that both felt one 
joy, both one affliction. In conversation, he had the 
happy talent of addressing his subject both to the un- 
derstanding and the passions : from the one he forced 
conviction, from the other he stole assent. 

He was blessed with a complacency of disposition 
and equanimity of temper, which peculiarly endeared 
him to his friends, and which, added to the deportment 
of the gentleman, commanded reverence and esteem 
even from his enemies. 

Such was the tender sensibility of his soul, that he 
need but see distress to feel it, and contribute to its re- 
lief. He was deaf to the calls of interest even in the 
course of his profession ; and wherever he beheld an 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 75 

indigent object, which claimed his healing skill, he ad- 
ministered it, without even the hope of any other 
reward than that which resulted from the reflection of 
having so far promoted the happiness of his fellow- 
men. 

In the social departments of life, practising upou the 
strength of that doctrine he used so earnestly to incul- 
cate himself, that nothing so much conduced to enlight- 
en mankind, and advance the great end of society at 
large, as the frequent interchange of sentiments in 
friendly meeting. We find him constantly engaged in 
this eligible labor ; but on none did he place so high a 
value, as on that most honorable of all detached socie- 
ties, the Free and Accepted Masons. Into this 
fraternity he was early initiated ; and after having given 
repeated proofs of a rapid proficiency in the arts, and 
after evidencing by his life the professions of his lips, 
finally, as the reward of his merit, he was commissioned 
the Most Worshipful Grand Master of all the ancient 
Masons through North America. And you, brethren, 
are living testimonies with how much honor to himself, 
and benefit to the craft universal, he discharged the 
duties of his elevated trust ; with what sweetened ac- 
cents he courted your attention, while, with wisdom, 
strength, and beauty, he instructed his lodges in the 
secret arts of Freemasonry ; what perfect order and 
decorum he preserved in the government of them ; 
and, in all his conduct, what a bright example he set 
us. to live ivithin compass, and act upon the square. 



76 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

With what pleasure did he silence the wants of poor 
and penniless brethren ! yea, the necessitous every 
where, though ignorant of the mysteries of the craft, 
from his benefactions felt the happy effects of that in- 
stitution which is founded on faith, hope, and charity. 
And the world may cease to wonder that he so readily 
offered up his life on the altar of his country, when 
they are told that the main pillar of Masonry is the 
love of mankind. 

The Fates, as though they would reveal, in the person 
of our Grand-Master, those mysteries which have so 
long lain hid from the world, have suffered him, like 
the great master-builder in the temple of old, to fall by 
the hands of ruffians, and be again raised in honor and 
authority. We searched in the field for the murdered 
son of a widow, and we found him, by the turf and the 
twig, buried on the brow of a hill, though not in a de- 
cent grave. And though we must again commit his 
body to the tomb, yet our breasts shall be the burying 
spot of his masonic virtues, and there — 

11 An adamantine monument we'll rear, 
With this inscription, < Masonry lies here.' " 

In public life, the sole object of his ambition was to 
acquire the conscience of virtuous enterprizes ; amor 
patrice was the spring of his actions, and mens conscia 
recti was his guide. And on this security he was, on 
every occasion, ready to sacrifice his health, his inter- 
est, and his ease, to the sacred calls of his country. 
When the liberties of America were attacked, he ap- 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 77 

peared an early champion in the contest ; and though 
his knowledge and abilities would have insured riches 
and preferment (could he have stooped to prostitution), 
yet he nobly withstood the fascinating charm, tossed 
fortune back her plume, and pursued the inflexible pur- 
pose of his soul in guiltless competence. 

He sought not the airy honors of a name ; else many 
of those publications which, in the early period of our 
controversy, served to open the minds of the people, 
had not appeared anonymous. In every time of immi- 
nent danger, his fellow-citizens flew to him for advice ; 
like the orator of Athens, he gave it, and dispelled their 
fears. Twice did they call him to the rostrum to com- 
memorate the massacre of their brethren ; and from 
that instance, in persuasive language, he taught them, 
not only the dangerous tendency, but the actual mis- 
chief, of stationing a military force in a free city in a 
time of peace. They learned the profitable lesson, and 
penned it among their grievances. 

But his abilities were too great, his deliberations too 
much wanted, to be confined to the limits of a single 
city ; and, at a time when our liberties were most criti- 
cally in danger from the secret machinations and open 
assaults of our enemies, this town, to their lasting honor, 
elected him to take a part in the councils of the state. 
And with what faithfulness he discharged the important 
delegation, the neglect of his private concerns, and his 
unwearied attendance on that betrustment, will suffi- 
ciently testify ; and the records of that virtuous assem- 



78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

bly will remain, the testimonials of his accomplishments 
as a statesman, and his integrity and services as a pa- 
triot, through all posterity. 

The Congress of our Colony could not observe so much 
virtue and greatness without honoring it with the high- 
est mark of their favor ; and, by the free suffrages of 
that uncorrupted body of freemen, he was soon called 
to preside in the senate, where, by his daily counsels 
and exertions, he was constantly promoting the great 
cause of general liberty. 

But when he found the tools of oppression were ob- 
stinately bent on violence ; when he found the ven- 
geance of the British court must be glutted with blood ; 
he determined that what he could not effeet by his el- 
oquence or his pen, he would bring to purpose by his 
sword. And on the memorable 19th of April, he ap- 
peared in the field under the united characters of the 
general, the soldier, and the physician. Here he was 
seen animating his countrymen to battle, and fighting 
by their side, and there he was found administering 
healing comforts to the wounded. And when he had 
repelled the unprovoked assaults of the enemy, and had 
driven them back into their strong-holds, like the vir- 
tuous chief of Rome, he returned to the senate, and 
presided again at the councils of the fathers. 

When the vanquished foe had rallied their disor- 
dered army, and by the acquisition of fresh strength, 
again presumed to fight against freemen, our patriot, 
ever anxious to be where he could do the most good, 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 79 

again put off the senator, and, in contempt of danger, 
flew to the field of battle, where, after a stern and 
almost victorious resistance — ah ! too soon for his coun- 
try ! — he sealed his principles with his blood : then 

" Freedom wept, that merit could not save ;" 
But Warre?i's manes " must enrich the grave." 

Enriched indeed! and the heights of Charlestown 
shall be more memorable for thy fall than the Plains 
of Abraham are for that of the hero of Britain. For 
while he died contending for a single country, you fell 
in the cause of virtue and mankind. 

The greatness of his soul shone even in the moment 
of death ; for, if fame speaks true, in his last agonies 
he met the insults of his barbarous foe with his wonted 
magnanimity, and with the true spirit of a soldier 
frowned at their impotence. 

In fine, to complete the great character, like Har- 
rington he wrote, like Cicero he spoke, like Hampden 
he lived, and like Wolfe he died ! 

And can we, my countrymen, with indifference be- 
hold so much valor laid prostrate by the hand of Brit- 
ish tyranny f And can we ever grasp that hand in 
affection again ? are we not yet convinced " that he 
who hunts the woods for prey, the naked and untutored 
Indian, is less a savage than the king of Britain ?" have 
we not proofs, wrote in blood, that the corrupted nation 
from whence we sprang (though there may be some 
traces of their ancient virtue left) are stubbornly fixed 
on our destruction ? and shall we still court a depen- 



80 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

denee on such a state ? still contend for a connection 
with those who have forfeited not only every kindred 
claim, but even their title to humanity ! Forbid it, the 
spirit of the brave Montgomery ! furbid it, the spirit of 
immortal Warren ! forbid it, the spirits of all our valiant 
countrymen who fought, bled, and died for far differ- 
ent purposes, and who would have thought the purchase 
dear indeed to have paid their lives for the paltry boon 
of displacing one set of villains in power, to make way 
for another. No : they contended for the establish- 
ment of peace, liberty, and safety to their country ; 
and we are unworthy to be called their countrymen, 
if we stop at any acquisition short of this. 

Now is the happy season to seize again those rights, 
which, as men, we are by nature entitled to, and which, 
by contract, we never have and never could have sur- 
rendered ; but which have been repeatedly and violent- 
ly attacked by the king, lords, and commons of Britain, 
Ought we not, then, to disclaim for ever the forfeited 
affinity, and by a timely amputation of that rotten limb 
of the empire, prevent the mortification of the whole ? 
ought we not to listen to the voice of our slaughtered 
brethren, who are now proclaiming aloud to their coun- 
try- 
Go tell the king, and tell him from our spirits, 
That you and Britons can be friends no more ; 
Tell him, to you all tyrants are the same; 
Or, if in bonds the never-conquer'd soul 
Can feel a pang more keen than slavery's self, 
'Tis where the chains that crush you into dust, 
Are forged by hands from which you hoped for freedom ? 



b 






GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 81 

Yes, we ought and will, — we will assert the blood 
of our murdered hero against thy hostile oppressions, 
shameless Britain ! and when " thy cloud-capped 
towers, thy gorgeous palaces," shall, by the teeth of 
pride and folly, be levelled with the dust, and when 
thy glory shall have faded like the western sunbeam, — 
the name and the virtues of Warren shall remain im- 
mortal ! 

On the south side of the pedestal was the following 
inscription : 

" Erected A.D. MDCCXCIV., 

By King Solomon's Lodge of Free Masons, 
Constituted in Charlestown, 1783, 

In memory of 

Major-General Joseph Warren 

and his Associates, 

Who were slain on this memorable spot, June 17, 

1775. 

" ' None but they who set a just value upon 

the blessings of Liberty are worthy to enjoy 

her. In vain we toiled ; in vain we fought ; 

# we bled in vain, if you, our offspring, want 

valor to repel the assault of her invaders.' 

" Charlestown settled, 1628; burned, 1775; 
rebuilt, 1776." 

This sentiment, so peculiarly appropriate, is quoted 
from Warren's first oration. The monument stood forty 
years, and was then removed to give place to the proud 



82 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

structure which now rears its granite proportions above 
the surrounding country, — an imperishable monument 
to the heroism of the brave phalanx who here shed their 
blood in the cause of American liberty. Within stands 
a model of Warren's monument, from which Mr. Loss- 
ing made the accompanying sketch for his " Field 
Book of the Revolution.'' 

In 1777, Congress passed a resolution, ordering that 
a monument be erected to General Warren in the town 
of Boston, with the following inscription : 

" In honor of 

Joseph Warren, 

Major-General of Massachusetts Bay. 

He devoted his life to the liberties 

of his country ; 

And in bravely defending them, fell 

an early victim, 

In the Battle of Bunker Hill, 

June 17th, 1775. 

The Congress of the United States, 

As an acknowledgment of his services, 

Have erected this monument ■ 

To his memory." 

It was also ordered by Congress that his eldest son 
should be educated at the expense of the United States. 
The proposed monument was never erected. 

For a detailed review of the character of General 
Warren, a more extended space should be accorded 



GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 83 

than the few pages which have here been dedicated to 
the subject. His name has been long embalmed in the 
hearts of all Americans, and will be transmitted to pos. 
terity as o:.e of the most illustrious among those who 
died in defence of the liberties of his country. In his 
person he was somewhat above the medium height ; his 
form was graceful, and his manners polite and engag- 
ing. Every emotion of his heart was depicted in a 
countenance eminently expressive of generous and 
noble sentiments. He was the friend of the indigent 
and oppressed ; and, independent of the lustre of his 
talents, which shone conspicuously even among the 
brilliant lights of that period, he greatly enhanced his 
popularity by numerous acts of the purest philanthropy 
and charity. The distressed never appealed to him in 
vain, and his liberality was only circumscribed by his 
means. 

As an orator he had few equals. Like others of 
that eventful era, he needed the impetus of some great 
event to set in motion the engines of his eloquence ; 
but once excited, and he carried all before him in a 
torrent of resistless, burning declamation, — now rousing 
to tne utmost pitch the ardor of his excited auditory, 
and anon moving them to tears with touching depic- 
tions of the public wrongs. He was the impersonation 
of that splendid courage which in the days of chivalry 
led on to the highest honors, and won the admiration of 
all classes. He has been aptly compared to Louis XII., 
at Aignadel ; and like him might exclaim to the timid, 



84 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF 

" Let those who have fear secrete themselves behind 
me." Or, like the bold and generous Conde, he would 
animate his countrymen in the darkest hour with the 
cheerful cry, " Follow my white plume ; you shall re- 
^ cognize it always on the road to victory !" 

Magoon, in his " Orators of the Revolution," says 
of him, after quoting some of the most eloquent periods 
of his orations, " Warren was a powerful orator, because 
he was a true man, and struggled for man's highest 
rights. Eloquence and liberty are the insaperable off- 
spring of the same mother, nursed at the same breast ; 
two beams from the same sun ; two chords of the same 
harp ; two arrows from the same quiver ; two thunder- 
bolts twin-born in heaven, and most glorious in their 
conflicts and conquests on earth." 

Such was the patriot-soldier and statesman, Joseph 
Warren. From among the numerous champions of 
freedom apparently raised up by the hand of Providence, 
to hurl back the avalanche of tyranny, it will be difficult 
to select one who combined within himself all the re- 
quisites for the important part he had to perform. 
Ardent in the cause he espoused ; fearless, and of in- 
corruptible integrity ; self-reliant, and imparting his 
own courage to the faltering by a consistent example ; 
a powerful orator and writer ; a nervous and convinc- 
ing reasoner in conversation and debate ; conciliatory 
and engaging in his manners ; and with a natural air 
of command, combined with the necessary talent to 
lead and direct his companions in emergencies, — it is not 






GEN. JOSEPH WARREN. 85 

surprising, that, at the comparatively inexperienced age 
of thirty-five, his ability in the cabinet should have been 
acknowledged by an unanimous nomination to the Pre- 
sidency of the Provincial Congress, and his military 
talents recognized by an appointment to the command 
of the army. His name stands associated with every 
amiable and noble quality; he has left an example 
worthy alike the contemplation and imitation of all who 
can appreciate whatever adorns human nature. Statues 
and monuments are worthy commemorators of his deeds; 
but his best eulogy is in the sincere admiration of. his 
countrymen. 



THE END. 



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